Chapter Sixty Three - This Is

"Seriously?" Blake raised a brow at my prom date sitting in the living room.

"Yes," I confirmed.

"I thought you'd be going with Sean. Did he not ask you?"

"Nah, not really. I doubt he's even going with that broken leg of his."

"Right." He nodded, pointing with his chin to the guy who was nervously seated on our living room couch after the interrogation Blake had just had with him. "What did you say his name was again?"

I rolled my eyes and gave myself a final look in the mirror. I'd curled my hair and ran a comb through it to give a wavy texture, then I'd styled it back in a half updo. It was a braided loop hairstyle I'd learnt from YouTube. My makeup was light and subtle to accentuate my sleek light pink gown. It was a plunging neck design, but not too deep.

"Ready to go?" I stepped into the living room with a smile.

"Yes, please," he answered with wide eyes, gaze shifting back to my brother, who'd just walked in after me. "Oh, and you look beautiful, Becks."

"Thank you, Chris. You look really handsome yourself."

"Let's go?" He held his arm out for me, his nervous eyes adding a little please with that.

I chuckled lowly.

"And what time do you get her home, Chris?" Blake asked just as we'd made it to the front door.

"9 p.m., sharp," Chris quavered.

"Good. I'll see you at 9, Becks. Sharp."

Nick was watching it all from the couch, amused. He'd been the one keeping poor Chris company while Blake was unnerving him. Or at least that's what I'd thought Nick was doing until I'd overheard him telling Chris what Blake had done to one of my dates in the past—shoved a dozen fiery fingers treat down his throat for looking at me the wrong way. Lies. All lies. Nothing of the sort had ever happened.

With a sigh, I left my house.

"I totally get why Matt asked me to pick you up for him. Your brother's really scary. But who would've thought he'd be scary enough to scare that well-built quarterback?" he joked while getting the passenger door for me.

"That's not what happened." I chuckled. "It's a bit more complicated. But thanks for doing this, Chris."

"It's fine." He shrugged. "I pick up his date. He picks up mine. We're even."

I frowned as he got into the car. "I didn't know that arrangement."

"Well, obviously. Who was gonna pick Rebecca then?"

My eyes widened. "Your date is Rebecca?"

"Don't judge me. She asked me, and I didn't wanna say no. What if I hadn't found someone else?"

"That's not what I meant." I stared out of my window, scowling at the thought of Matt being with her in that moment. I bet she would've made up a hundred scenarios in her head on the short drive to the school.

What if she was trying to hit on him again? Who was I kidding? Of course she was.

I was suddenly a little restless to reach school now.

When we made it, I found his car parked up ahead, and he was standing outside, leaning against it. He was looking so hot in that tuxedo with his hands buried in his pockets. To my annoyance, Rebecca was standing right beside him and talking, which Matt wasn't even acknowledging as he stared ahead into distance.

I stepped out of the car and made a beeline for him.

The moment he saw me, his eyes lit up as they took me in once before he started towards me, leaving Rebecca's words hanging in the air behind him, and her eyes narrowed.

"Hey, Becks," he greeted with a spark in his eyes.

I reached forward and wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him without wasting any time, knowing that Rebecca was watching us. I could tell he was a little taken aback, but responded nonetheless with the same urgency, smiling against my mouth.

None of us stopped until we heard Rebecca walk past us, and once she was gone, I pulled back breathlessly.

"Okay. You've made your point." He smirked. "I didn't see her face, but I'm sure it was worth it."

I laughed. "This pickup was a bad idea."

"Tell me about it," he scoffed with a roll of his eyes.

"What is it?" I frowned. "Did she say something on the way here?"

"She says a lot of things. Do you really wanna ruin your evening, hearing them? Or do you wanna go inside and have some fun?"

He puckered his lips like a child, and I leaned up on my tip toes to peck them. "Definitely go inside and have some fun."

"Come on then." He took my hand, and we made our way into the school. The hall looked so beautiful with all the decoration and dim lights.

"Becks!" Meera grinned at me and engulfed me in a giant hug. "You look awesome."

"Thanks, Mee. Look at you. Told you that you weren't gonna regret buying this." I eyed her beautiful black halter neck gown. Her, Cheryl, and I had shopped for our gowns together.

"I know." She chuckled, twirling around in it. "Oh!" She looked between us. "Did you guys get the pictures clicked?"

"We've just arrived," I answered.

"Go on then." She ushered us towards the photo booth.

We posed and clicked a lot of photos until another couple complained that we'd been in there for too long. So, we slipped out of the booth and blended into the dance floor crowd, dancing until our feet hurt. We spent the evening drinking different types of punch, clicking a hundred more pictures, and stealing quick kisses.

Finally, it was time for the prom king and queen announcement. Even though the junior senior prom was combined, the title always went to seniors since the juniors would have their own chance next year.

I was really happy when Matt became prom king, and one of the girls in his class got prom queen. They got photos clicked on the stage and exchanged a few words, and the moment he was off the stage, he was mine again.

That evening, I had more fun than I'd had in a really long time.

Finally, it was time to leave.

Matt looked around the room and pulled his phone out.

"Don't call Chris. I can go with you. I mean, what are the odds of my brother waiting out front?"

"You and I both know those odds are very high." He smiled, then grabbed my waist to pull me closer. "But we'll make something up, won't we? We always do."

"Yes." I gave an uneasy smile. Could this be the moment to tell my brother about us? I didn't think so. Not right after prom. I didn't wanna ruin such a nice evening.

Matt shoved his phone back in his pocket, and we started making our way towards the parking lot.

My temper flared at the sight of Rebecca waiting next to his car with a smirk. "That's as far as you go, Becks. Better kiss him goodnight."

"I'm leaving with him."

She frowned. "But I thought you were leaving with Chris."

"Not anymore." I smiled sardonically.

She looked like she was about to argue but probably realized she had no valid argument. Or a voice when it came to us—the people who didn't give a shit about her opinion.

She rolled her eyes and marched away, saying, "Whatever."

"She's so annoying," I spoke through gritted teeth. "How did you ever—no! I'm not gonna go there."

"Better not." He chuckled as we got into the car, and he started driving back to my house.

Blake wasn't out in the yard, but the moment the car pulled up, he swung the front door open and stepped out like he'd been looking through the window secretly this entire time.

"Does he have nothing to do?" Matt frowned.

"Be nice." I stifled a smile while stepping out of the car but felt a chill run down my spine only a second later when Matt stepped out too.

"What are you doing?" I whisper yelled, panicking over the theory that he'd probably decided to take matters into his own hands and tell my brother about us.

"I'm walking you to your front door like a date would." He shrugged, and before I could open my mouth to say something again, he was already next to me. "But looks like your brother is going to do the honours."

"Why are you coming back with him?" Blake neared us with a scowl.

"I..." I trailed off, feeling another wave of panic wash over me.

"Her date ditched her," Matt answered. "So, I drove her home."

"Oh." Blake turned to me, the lines on his forehead instantly easing. "What a douche! You alright, Becks?"

I nodded, passing a little smile to my boyfriend. "Thanks, Matt."

"Not a problem."

Blake nodded at him, the kind of stern manly nod that said, 'I appreciate what you did, but I still don't like you'.

"Thanks," Blake finally said.

Okay...what?

Matt nodded back.

I headed inside my house after my brother, but not before waving back at Matt.

He flashed me an adorable grin before turning around and getting into his car.

"I knew that guy Chris was an idiot. Can't believe he did that to you," Blake said once we'd stepped inside and shut the door after us.

"It's fine, Blake. I'm just happy Matt was there."

His eyes narrowed for a moment, and I could tell he wasn't happy to hear that, but he didn't say anything to me and nodded. "You hungry? I can heat some food for you."

"No, thanks. I'm tired, though, so I'm gonna go and get some sleep."

"Okay."

"What is he doing?" I pointed at Nick, who was passed out on our couch with some movie playing on the TV.

"I think he's high on sugar. Ate lots of sweets and passed out while watching the movie."

"God!" I shook my head. "He's gonna kill himself with some sort of sweet poisoning someday."

"I wouldn't be surprised."

"Fuck you guys," he mumbled in his sleep and rolled over. Then a moment later, he rubbed his eyes open and sat up, groaning slightly. "I always appreciate people talking about me to my face, except when I'm sleeping. Do you guys have to be so loud?"

"I'm not even sorry." Blake laughed as he grabbed a bowl of popcorn from the kitchen and started to go upstairs but not before aiming a single popcorn on Nick's head, which bounced off his hair and fell on the couch. Nick narrowed his eyes at him before they fell on me.

"Hey, Becks. How was prom?"

"It was amazing."

"At least one of us is partying, having fun. And not getting lazy sitting at home." He rolled his eyes.

I sat down next to him on the couch with a chuckle. As a comfortable silence fell between us, I exhaled.

"Nick," I started hesitantly, then continued, "I had so much fun there and clicked lots of pictures. You know how I share almost everything with Blake, right? I want him to see these pictures so bad but he can't. You know why."

He nodded.

"And I'm dying to show them to someone. So, I was thinking..."

His eyes grew wide for a second. "You wanna show them to me?"

"Only if you want." I nodded.

He looked so taken aback and happy like I'd given him a giant sweet basket. "Of course, Becks."

"Great! Let me just slip into something comfortable and get rid of all this makeup."

"I'll be there in five."

"Fifteen." I got up and went upstairs, quickly changed out of my gown, removed my makeup and sat down on the edge of my bed after precisely twenty minutes. Nick entered the room after a knock with a bowl of popcorn and a chocolate milkshake.

"Didn't you just pass out from eating too much?" I raised a brow.

"Blake likes to exaggerate. I'd been working on a college project since morning. Sue me if I took a nap while watching his favourite movie. Not to mention, it was boring. Why the hell does he like rockets so much?"

"Beats me."

He sat down next to me and ate some popcorn as I unlocked my phone and started showing him all the pictures.

I told him the names of all my friends and he listened with interest.

"Is that Aiden?" Nick squinted at the screen.

"Yes. Surprised how much a little hair gel can change your looks, right?" I swiped on to the next picture.

"Whoa! Who is this?" He wiggled his brows at Rebecca in the corner of our group picture. I realized what had caught his attention. Her red hair.

"That's Rebecca." I rolled my eyes.

"Wait! I think I remember her. Didn't she used to be blonde?"

"Yeah, it's a new look for her every year."

"She's hot."

"Can you not? She's my contender for the competition, and well, not like it means anything to you, but she's also Matt's ex. Kind of."

"He's got a thing for Rebekahs." He chuckled.

"Well, I'm the second and last one."

"I hope so. I really do." He nodded, staring at our picture where Matt was kissing my cheek and I was smiling at the camera. "You know, he's the last person I imagined you with. But he seems like a changed guy, Becks. You're happy so I'm happy for you."

I was so grateful to hear that and hoped that I could hear it from Blake, too, once I told him the truth.

"Thanks, Nick. That means a lot to me."

He got up with a nod and strolled to my window. And then, he lifted it. "Seriously? This is how you guys roll?"

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"What the fuck are you doing in her room?" came a voice from outside and I sprinted to the window to find Matt in the middle of climbing up and glaring at Nick for blocking his way in.

"Nick, do you mind stepping aside?" I felt my heart pick up at the sight I'd seen many times before but the thought of him falling off my window freaked me out each time.

"Oh sorry. My bad." He blinked innocently and took a step back. "I'm gonna leave you guys alone. Don't forget to lock the door." He winked at me before walking towards the door.

"You forgot your chocolate milkshake." I pointed to my nightstand.

"I brought that for you."

"Oh, thanks. But I'm fu—"

"She prefers strawberry." Matt pried the glass off the table and held it up for Nick with a straight face, which made Nick's lips pull back into a smirk as he took it from him and walked out while taking a sip.

My adorably jealous boyfriend watched him leave with narrowed eyes and I grabbed a hold of his chin to turn his head towards me. His frown instantly eased.

"What did he want?" he asked.

"Nothing. I invited him to see the prom pictures."

One side of his mouth raised in disapproval. "And why would you do that?"

"It was killing me that I can't share them with Blake. Nick's like a brother to me so I thought why not?" I shrugged. "Is that not okay with you?"

"Honestly, I don't like him. But you do, so that's good enough for me."

I smiled. "But what are you doing here?"

"I..." He shut his eyes for a moment and shook his head to himself. "...wanted to have ice cream with you."

"But," I continued while holding back a laugh. "You forgot to bring the ice cream along."

"Yes." He turned around. "I'll be right back."

I grabbed his arm. "It's fine. There's a mini tub in the fridge. Or at least there was one in the afternoon. Can't speak about the desserts in confidence when Nick's in the house but it's worth a look. I'll be right back."

I headed downstairs and luckily, the mini ice cream tub was safe. I quickly grabbed two spoons and made a beeline for my room before someone could stop me to ask why I suddenly needed two spoons to eat.

Once I'd locked the door, Matt and I got under the covers and started eating ice cream while watching a new movie of his favourite franchise. There was too much violence but it wasn't like I was repelled by it. Disney girls can like gory stuff as well.

Finally, at 1 a.m., when I yawned and my eyes started to water, he began to step out of bed.

"Do you have to go back home?" I pouted.

"Not if you want me to stay."

"I do."

A soft smile fell on his lips. "Lately, you've been like a magnet to me. Not like I'm complaining though."

I swallowed. "You're gonna leave for college, Matt. And I don't want to imagine what it's gonna be like to not have you across the street all the time or driving me around in your car. I don't even know how I'm gonna get through my senior year."

"You'll be fine, Becks. I know that. And I'm gonna be here all the time. Almost every weekend. You won't even miss me."

I shook my head, trying my best not to get emotional. "That's not possible. I'm gonna miss you a lot."

He exhaled slowly. "Who am I kidding? I'm gonna miss you like hell."

I chuckled lowly. "I know."

"But I don't wanna think about that right now. I don't wanna think about it until I really have to, okay?"

"You're right."

*****

After going to Matt's house every day for an entire week with Blake being aware of it, I thought his hatred towards him would tone down a bit but every time I came back home, he greeted me with a frown and went back to doing what he was doing.

But once we got to talking and hanging out, he forgot all about it.

On Saturday night, upon Nick's constant demands, we were finally at the club.

"You should've approached that girl, Blake. She was totally checking you out," Nick said while running a hand through his hair as he yawned.

"I'm pretty sure she was checking you out," Blake said, checking his mirrors. We were on our way back home and Blake was the least drunk person out of the three of us so he was driving. Alcohol rarely ever hit him but he'd still drank under the alcohol limit for driving for extra measure.

He was the most responsible person I knew.

"Well, she wasn't my type."

I giggled and the two of them eyed me weirdly, Blake through the mirror and Nick turning back from the passenger seat to throw me a glance.

"What?" I hiccupped and he chuckled before looking ahead again.

"Hey!" I complained. "Stop treating me like I'm drunk. Because I'm not."

Blake nodded. "Of course. I totally believe—"

It happened too fast. The only thing I heard was a loud crash before the car wiggled out of control, the unexpected momentum throwing my head against the window. The car toggled for two seconds before my brother regained control of it and slammed the brakes right before it could collide into the tree.

"Shit!"

"Fuck!"

I heard curses from Nick and Blake but I was too shaken up to tell which had come from whom. A low throb arose in the side of my head and I looked at the window, expecting a crack from the intense impact but there wasn't a single line of break, which meant I hadn't hit my head that hard.

I sighed in relief until a wave of panic rushed over me. I was okay but what about my brother and Nick?

I moved weakly, attempting to take a look when my brother's wide eyes met mine as he frantically unbuckled his seatbelt.

"Becks? Are you okay?"

"Is she alright?" Nick sounded just as panicked. That was new. I don't think I'd ever heard Nick panic. But then, I'd never been in an accident with him until now.

I managed a nod.

Blake sighed out loud. "Are you hurt?"

I lifted a shaky hand to my temple and touched the throbbing spot. "It hurts."

Once again, his eyes widened, any traces of his momentary relief vanishing. "You're not wearing your seatbelt. Shit! Did you hit your head?" Then, without giving me a chance to reply, he hollered, "Nick! Call 911."

I heard faint voices of Nick talking over the phone while he stepped out of the car and pulled open my door to take a look at me. I noticed Blake having some trouble opening the driver's door so he quickly jumped over to the passenger side to exit the car and rushed to my side.

While he checked me out, I noticed Nick walking away from the car. There was another car up ahead which had crashed into the tree. It had probably collided with ours from the side to make my brother lose control of the car like that.

Angrily, Nick pulled the driver's door open as if ready to beat the shit out of the driver but something made him stop and only frown. Then, he leaned over and said something, probably expecting a response but maybe he didn't get any as he walked back to us.

"What the fuck is wrong with them?" Blake snapped.

"A drunk idiot. He's completely out but I checked his pulse. Motherfucker's alive."

I chuckled and their heads snapped in my direction.

"That's a good thing, Nick." I leaned back in my seat, the throbbing and the pain growing more intense with each passing second and I wanted it to stop. I shut my eyes tightly and brought my hands to my head, rubbing the spot but it only made it worse. Either it was a bad concussion or a premature hangover thanks to the accident, or both.

As I fell on the seat, my back flat on it, I heard my brother's panicked voice. "Becks, shit! I'm not waiting for a fucking ambulance. I'm driving her to the hospital."

I wanted to open my eyes and reassure him that it was probably just because of the foolishly large quantity of alcohol I'd imbibed, but suddenly I was too weak for that.

The next few hours passed by in a blur and I only remembered it all in bits and pieces from when I was gaining and losing consciousness—the siren of the ambulance just as Nick had started to drag the drunk idiot out of his car because as mad as Blake and him were at the dude, they couldn't just leave him there, me lying flat on my back on a surface that definitely wasn't the backseat of a car, a doctor asking me some silly questions like what day it was (why didn't they invest in a calendar?) and finally, me swallowing some really nasty pills.

And when I finally came round, still drunk, the very old doctor reassured me that they'd run tests and scans on me and I was completely fine. There was no severe damage to my head and everything I was feeling was the combined effect of alcohol and the trauma from the accident.

So, I told my brother I wanted to get the hell out of there. And once he'd confirmed with the doctor that I was good to go home, I was sitting in the backseat of my brother's car with an icepack to my head.

His car hadn't endured any serious damage so it didn't need to be towed. But Blake would have to get the very obvious dent on his precious fixed.

I also learnt that the authorities were going to take care of the drunk idiot once he was okay. Blake didn't want to freak out mom and dad so he'd decided to wait until morning to tell them everything.

"Mom and dad are going to be so mad," he muttered once he started to drive away from the hospital. "How do you think yours will react?"

My lips puckered. "We have the same parents, Blake."

His eyes met mine in the mirror briefly. "I was talking to Nick."

"Oh!"

"You okay back there?"

"Yes. This seatbelt however..." I sighed. "...is suffocating me."

"Don't you dare unbuckle it."

"Fine." I pouted, pressing the icepack more firmly against my temple.

"My parents cannot know about this," Nick replied to Blake's previous question. "Especially my father. He's actually going to kill that guy, or at least make sure he rots in prison for all his better years."

"Damn!"

"But he'll find out somehow. Dammit, Blake! I'm screwed."

I chuckled. "Aw Nick's scared of his dad."

"I'm not scared for myself, Becks."

I smiled weakly. "Your dad must really love you."

He made that whatever dismissive face. Right, God forbid we remind guys they're loved by their families.

"And your mom too," I continued with a sigh.

I wonder how that feels, I thought as tears pooled in my eyes. It was probably just the exhaustion and the accident that left me feeling so overwhelmed.

Dammit, Becks! Not that shit again. Mom loves you.

I wiped a single tear that had rolled down my cheek just as Blake pulled the car into our driveway.

The moment he parked it, he quickly stepped out and opened my door, helping me out. But as he did, I saw a shadow across the street out of the corner of my eye. Matt had just stepped out of his house like he'd been waiting for us. And the sight of his furrowed brows and angry scowl made me drop the icepack in the backseat.

"I'll be right back," I said and without a thought, stepped out of my brother's hold on my arm to wobble across the street.

"Becks, where are you going?" Blake asked.

"I'm gonna go say hi." I pointed towards Matt.

"Are you serious? Right now? You need to get home and rest."

"It'll only take a second."

"You run into him in the street regularly, you train with him every day and you still wanna go say hi when you can't even open your eyes properly? What, you have a crush on him or something?"

I stopped in my tracks and crossed my arms over my chest. "What if I do?"

His frustrated what made me turn right back around and cross the street to my lover. This time, Matt met me halfway, not giving a shit that my brother was watching as he grabbed my arms to steady me, his eyes running across my face and body in frantic sweeps.

Then, his eyes fell back on the car and he'd probably noticed the huge dent, as I could tell when they widened. "Is that... did you get into an accident?"

"Yes?"

"WHAT? What happened? Are you okay?" He probed my arms like he could detect wounds like that and I suppressed a smile.

"Yes. Just butted my head against the window. Nothing to worry about. Doctor ran tests and said I'm all good. This drowsiness is from the alcohol."

"YOU WERE AT THE HOSPITAL?" His voice raised a notch, not in anger, but in pure panic. "When did this happen? I knew something was wrong when you didn't answer your phone or reply to my texts."

"We were coming back from the club. Blake was driving when this drunk idiot's car collided with ours."

His eyes turned cold. "Was your brother driving drunk?"

"No—"

"I got her," came a harsh voice and I felt someone behind me. Blake grabbed me by the shoulders and slowly started pulling me towards our house.

"Blake, I'm still talking to—"

"Have you, really? Got her?" Matt took a step forward, eyes dangerous.

"Excuse me?"

"Is this how you take care of her? Getting her into an accident?"

I felt Blake's grip loosen on me as his eyes became furious and he stepped up next to me. "Who the fuck are you to tell me how to take care of my sister?"

I flinched. This was not what I'd wanted when I'd come to say hi to my boyfriend.

"Alright, guys." Nick stepped between them. "Let's just go home, okay? We've had a long day." Then, he averted his eyes to Matt. "She's fine."

Matt swallowed his anger and nodded at him, a single ray of relief crossing his face at the reassurance. He gave me a once over and nodded again.

"What the fuck does he care about it?" Blake scowled at Nick.

"She's my neighbour," Matt clipped. "Sue me for showing a little care."

"Well, you don't have to, okay?" Blake bit back rather rudely as he grabbed my shoulders again and started pulling me away from Matt.

"Wait, Blake. I was talking to him." I frowned.

Matt's eyes met mine, and he ran a hand through his hair as if regaining control. "It's okay, Becks. I'll see you tomorrow."

"No, you won't. You guys don't train on Sundays," Blake answered.

"Says who?" Matt scowled.

"Me."

He rolled his eyes and let it go, but I think I'd had enough. I yanked free from my brother's grasp in frustration. "Stop it, Blake."

"What?" He blinked.

"This is not right." I shook my head. "I-I... I'm doing it all wrong. This isn't right. This isn't fair to either of you."

"Becks, I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Blake, I—"

"Rebekah, just go and get some sleep, okay?" I heard Matt behind me. "We can talk tomorrow. When you're sober and feeling better."

"I'll never do this sober," I muttered under my breath.

"Becks, he's right. Come on," Nick called.

"This isn't fair to either of you. I'm neglecting you, Matt, and I'm fooling you, Blake. This is wrong."

"What?" Blake shook his head at me. "You really do need to get some sleep."

"That's not what I need to do to feel better. This is."

Taking in a deep breath, I took one long step towards Matt and kissed him.